"McDonald's has stabbed us in the gut," one franchisee
wrote in response to the survey. "My 'partner' has only itself in
mind [and] it has declared war on the operator."

The pay raise affects only employees of company-owned
restaurants, which account for one-tenth of the roughly 14,000
McDonald's restaurants in the US. The rest of McDonald's restaurants are
owned by franchisees, who are now under pressure to raise wages
for their employees.

But franchisees say they can't afford more payroll costs because
sales are plunging and McDonald's corporate is bankrupting them
with fees, aggressive promotions, and costly restaurant upgrades.

"Relations between McDonald's Corporation and the operators are
the worst I have ever seen," one franchisee wrote. "Operators
feel betrayed. We have been struggling with profitability for the
last year. We thought our partner understood this."

The decision to raise wages for 10% of employees "did nothing to
quiet the labor issues and seems to have poured fuel on the
fire," the operator added.

Franchisees pay a lot of extra money to the company (which
corporate-owned restaurants don't owe) for advertising, rent, and
other expenses. The company charges a service fee equal to 4% of
gross sales, and rent can cost franchisees up to 12% of gross
sales, according to a 2013
Bloomberg report.

Operators also have to pay for restaurant upgrades, including the
new "Create Your Taste" digital displays that will allow people
to customize their burgers. The equipment will cost operators
between $120,000 and $160,000, according to franchisees cited in
the Janney survey.

With all the financial pressure they are facing, franchisees said
that they wished the company had at least warned them about its
decision to raise wages instead of blindsiding them.

"None of us knew until the last hour ... it's embarrassing," one
operator wrote. "What the hell is McDonald's Corporation doing to
our great company."

Restaurants like Chick-fil-A, Panera, and Five Guys are killing
McDonald's. "It's going to take years if we ever turn this
around," the operator wrote.

Another franchisee suggested that McDonald's has irreversibly
damaged its relationship with operators.

The wage announcement "sent a wave through the operator
community," the franchisee wrote. "An already-strained
relationship was fractured and I don't know if they can recover."